Learned Helplessness and Learned Optimism

Introduction to Learned Helplessness

• Concept Origin: Derived from training methods of Indian elephant trainers.
• Elephant Training Example:
  • Baby elephants are tied with rope to a stake and can't escape.
  • They learn over time that they cannot escape, even when grown and strong enough to break free.
  • Reflects the idea of giving up after repeated failure.

Developing Learned Helplessness

• Human Parallel:
  • Experiencing failure or aversive stimuli without control can lead to giving up.
  • People may start to believe they are not good enough.

Martin Seligman's Experiment (1967)

• Objective: To study learned helplessness.
• Method:
  • Three groups of dogs tested; each group received different treatments.
  • Group 3 dogs learned that shock was inescapable, leading to passive behavior.
  • Learned helplessness was disrupted by physically showing escape.

Symptoms and Impact

• Symptoms in Humans:
  • Failure to ask for help.
  • Frustration, giving up, poor motivation, procrastination.
• Long-Term Effects:
  • Can lead to vicious cycles of depression and anxiety in adulthood.

The Antidote: Learned Optimism

• Concept Introduction:
  • Introduced by Martin Seligman in "Learned Optimism."
  • Optimism leads to higher achievement and better health.
• Three Steps to Practice:
  1. Permanence: View bad events as temporary and good events as permanent.
  2. Pervasiveness: Do not let failure in one area affect other areas of life.
  3. Personalization: Blame bad events on external factors, not oneself.

Applying the Three P's

• Examples:
  • Failing an exam doesn’t define overall ability; it's a temporary setback.
  • Success in one area should be internalized.
• Encouragement:
  • Practice the three P’s when feeling overwhelmed.
  • Recognize failure as specific, not general, and success as personal, not external.

Conclusion

• Final Thought:
  • Past negative events do not determine your future.
  • Overcome learned helplessness by adopting learned optimism techniques.